Made da papers this week...
Mighty Kat Home Gym article
Showing posts with label gyms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gyms. Show all posts
PDX Weightlifting
Visited with Nick Horton at his gym PDX Weightlifting in Portland, Oregon. It's a no-frills Olympic-style weightlifting gym that is also equipped to accommodate CrossFitters looking to sharpen their technique.
There are two custom made platforms, plus a simple plywood sheet serving as a third, which is at the single squat rack in the place. The bumpers are a menagerie, including Rogue Fitness and rubber-coated Weiders. There are plyo boxes, ropes and medicine balls (leather or vinyl), and the only known "hip thrust block" made by their resident carpenter.
Nick requires all of his weightlifters to compete, and they make an impressive show of solidarity in Oregon LWC. They train aggressively; they'd have to to keep up with Nick's energy.
Nick - Nicholas Horton - is an impressive and unique guy. He's gregarious and super friendly to everyone he meets. He competes as well as coaches, keeping the split snatch form alive. Outside of the gym, he manages to keep alter identities running; he's a prolific musician (for years, he wrote a song daily and produces a high volume of his songs - all independently), perpetual student of high-level mathematics, and a prolific and skilled writer.
Nick's blog the Iron Samurai: Zen and the Art of Weightlifting, titled for his moniker, is one of the most productive and enjoyable weightlifting blogs around, collecting highlights from the web monthly and packaging them with essays, video Q&A, and updates on his team's training and competing. He produces an email newsletter which is chock full of this good stuff.
Nick strives to balance and develop all of his yin and yang aspects. He cultivates his creativity and channels it into solid contributions to the world in projects he mostly gives away.
If you're in Portland, definitely stop by to train or just to meet Nick. If you're on the internet, then get acquainted by clicking on the links I've provided. Either way, if you're into weightlifting, you gotta find out about this Nick guy...
Hip Thrusting?
If that hip thrust block got you curious, here's what that's about.
Oregon Crossfit
Was able to get in a snatch work out in Bend thanks to Oregon Crossfit. Co-owner Sean didn't even charge me a day fee, just had me fill out the liability form. It's a great-looking gym. The weather was September, Indian Summer gorgeous, so having the garage doors open to this warehouse gym was terrific.
It was loaded with all the Crossfit stuff I suppose a Crossfitter could want - rows of rings, stacks of bumper plates, loads of kettlebells, a big digital stopclock on the wall sounding out Sean's drill times as he trained.
The floor is wall-to-wall rubber, and for me, anyway, there's a noticeable difference between this and wooden platforms. It's okay, but when you always train on platforms, you work with the edge that slip gives you. And when you drop a rubber plate on rubber flooring, man, does it bounce.
I loved how the natural noonday light cut across my face and hit the floor in big angular patches. The chalk was kept in little socks in the standing stainless steel bowl. The bathrooms were small and simple. The logo and T-shirts were cool. There was a couch and even a grill, which Sean said was his; he'd brought it in for a cook out earlier in the week.
It was a very nice stop to make, and it's great to know there's a place to keep weightlifting on schedule in Central Oregon.
As I was finishing up, Sean started the pitch - "Have you ever tried Crossfit?" I smiled and said, "No. I have great respect for it, but I love what I do."
Juniper Swim & Fitness Center
Trained at Bend Park & Rec District's impressive Juniper Swim & Fitness Center. The fitness part of it was remodelled about three years ago, I was told. Everything seems shiny new. I had no competition for the squat rack at 1 p.m. on a Monday, unsurprisingly, while the treadmills were busy. It was a nice one, with retracting ends to the safety pins/bars, and black marker marking the level where the pins generally were used attested that the rack isn't gathering dust. The plates were rubber-coated with large holes for easy handling, the stuff of money in a fitness center.
All the general commercial gym essentials, nothing special to note. I wasn't sure where to deadlift and opted just to do it in front of the rack. Snatch grips with straps, since I sprained a finger in a meet the Saturday before. Got the feeling no one there had seen that kind of thing there before.
The facility is first and foremost about pools. If you're into water, don't miss it.
A decent use of $5.50 while on the road.
Outcast Fitness in Fairview, Ohio
Weightlifters, CrossFitters, and minions of the physical subculture, there is a place to train if you're in the Cleveland area - Outcast Fitness in Fairview, Ohio. It's humble, earnest, and full of soul, with all the basics and then some - Eleiko and Pendlay bars; Eleiko, Kraiburg, and Rogue bumper plates; a TRX system; a Muay Thai bag hung over a big mat; two benches, dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls and a generally thoughtful and well-chosen assortment of fun things.
It's got a cool name, and also happens to be the only gym I've been in with a microbrew bottle collection in the window. Let me be the first to announce that a wine bottle collection is about to begin as well.
Outcast Fitness is owned and operated by Paul Zagaria and his wife Nancy. I had the pleasure of working out alongside Paul. He's a beast! and one of the nicest guys a weightlifter could know. Besides a slew of creds from USA Weightlifting to CrossFit, Paul is also a Cleveland Police Officer and Sergeant-in-Charge of the Cleveland Division of Police's Physical Conditioning and Defensive Tactics programs.
If you live in the area, I'm sure you'd be lucky to train under Paul - if intensity, strength and stamina are anything you're interested in. If you're passing through, like I was, he'll go out of his way to make sure you have a place to train and everything you need.the logic of paying dues
Paid a visit to Aces MMA Gym in Beaverton. Talk about maximizing space - They've really made use of every square inch, packing in machines, a variety of hanging bags, a mat area and an actual octagon. Friendly host (Brian?) chatted with me a while. I liked this sign.
Stopped
NIKE World Headquarters work out facilities
The Nike world headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon has legendary employee fitness centers. I got to visit. Here's my photo album and report.
The campus is sprawling, pristine and corporately beautiful, lots of attention to architectural design, sustainability, landscaping, and maintenance. Soccer field, tennis courts, volleyball court, enough buildings you'd want a shuttle to get around much. Huge colorful banners with their sponsored famous athletes. A huge pond in the middle with geese and duckies, a small Chinese garden, bronze statue sculptures of people in slice-of-life poses; a boy and a girl playing with a frog, a young woman resting after a workout, a man fishing, an elderly couple sitting on a bench looking out at the pond.
I visited the Bo Jackson Wellness Center and the Lance Armstrong Fitness Center, both with employee work out facilities. Their namesakes are idolized with a religious lavishness (Personally, I wouldn't want 20' photos of Lance Armstrong surrounding me. And by the by, judging from his cycling shirts in the showcase, Lance is one tiny guy!).
They're both large buildings with facilities split between rooms and floors. The best aspects are architectural. Each space is situated thoughtfully with fantastic aesthetic views outside massive glass windows - facing the soccer field, token old towering trees. Natural light pours in everywhere on a scale that's at once soothing and invigorating. It must be epic for swimmers to use the Olympic-sized pool surrounded by glass, under open sky.
But what I went for was the work out facilities.
I was, at long last, pleasantly disappointed.
There are large, airy, well-windowed rooms filled with pretty much standard-issue, circa 1980 - 2000, chain-franchise gym equipment. There were loads of specific-muscle machines. TechnoGym was one brand - pricey but ugly bulky stuff. There were tons of cardio machines - Precor elliptical and treadmills with full decks. The dumbbell supply was awesome in its vastness - long rows of rubber-coated, straight-handled, chrome-covered dumbbells. (For that kind of money, I'd want tapered ergonomic handles, but they probably weren't out when they made the purchase.)
Smaller rooms were set up for Pilates and stretching. There were huge group fitness studios, once with their signature NikeGrind flooring, made of ground fitness shoe outersoles, the rest with gorgeous, shining hardwood (and those were actually more bouncy than the rubber floors).
But for all of this, I was shocked at what wasn't there. I expected both more true basics and more current innovations. By basics, I mean weightlifting equipment--platforms, bars and bumperplates--and squat equipment--platforms and bars. There was one - ONE squatting platform with a powerrack. There was no weightlifting equipment at all; I couldn't believe it and in fact still think there simply must be some hidden somewhere, but I visited all the employee facilities.
I expected to see more innovation, maybe things I'd never seen before. I expected more of the cutting-edge, retro-strongman tools I'm accustomed to now; I didn't see Kettlebells, Clubbells, ropes - lying or dangling, no tires, sledgehammers, sandbags, logs, nor sleds.
The freshest items I saw were inflated stability balls and rubber bands, and those have become practically standard-issue, too. There was one heavybag and one speed bag.
If I were still into what Chip Conrad calls the modern fitness industrial complex, I'd be impressed. In comparison to employee fitness facilities at large, it is impressive. But this isn't a chain gym nor an average workplace; it's the Nike world headquarters.
So for me, the pilgrimage left me feeling kind of let down, but it also was very valuable for what it helped me realize: the kind of fitness subculture I am a part of is not the norm. I am fortunate to be a part of it. More work needs to be done to enlighten the masses about building strength and fitness. And all to my surprise, I actually have a better gym than Nike. With just a handful of equipment and a coating of chalk and dust, it's a blade of wild grass compared to Nike's groomed field, but at the end of my workday, my garage is where I need to be. It has exactly what I need, the best tools for the job.
Related Posts
- The adventure & romance of exploring gyms
- My other posts reviewing gyms, including U of O
Weightlifting at Five Rings
Tom Hirtz was master of ceremonies at a weightlifting gathering at Five Rings Jiu Jitsu on March 27, 2010. Forrest Krewson called together four lifting gyms from Oregon in order to announce the first weightlifting meet for the Portland area. It's slated for July 31st (unsanctioned). Great progress toward getting competitions in the Portland area. Our friends from Creswell made the trip. Nice to see you guys drive for a change!
View photo album here.
my studio
Presenting The Mighty Kat Powerhouse Studio.
Check out other home gyms and add a video of your own at this fun thread at Straight to the Bar.
How to build an Olympic weightlifting platform
Ready for some pounding!
This is an easy design for an eight-foot square platform that will stand up to your heavy training for a long time to come. Protect your floor, your weights, and your knees by lifting at home on a proper training platform.
You’ll Need
- Four sheets of 3/4-inch CDX plywood
- One sheet of AB or AC plywood
- One 8’ x 4’ horse stall (rubber) mat
- About five tubes of industrial-strength adhesive
- Calking gun
- 1 ¼” wood screws
- Drill
- Reciprocating saw
- Square
- Chalk/string straight line drawing tool
Construction
Lay two sheets of CDX plywood lengthwise side by side in the direction you will face to lift.
Spread adhesive.
Lay two sheets of CDX plywood crosswise on top of bottom sheets.
Screw sheets together 2” from edges, 16” apart, around perimeter and along insides edges of top sheets.
- Measure and mark for center plywood sheet, running parallel with bottom sheets. (My camera crapped out on me for the next few steps. Grrrr!)
- Glue on higher-grade plywood sheet with better side facing up.
- Screw top sheet along 4’ edges ONLY.
- Cut stall mat in half lengthwise. How to: Lay two boards parallel with gap between them. Lay mat over boards. Draw chalk line down the center. Use reciprocating saw to cut mat into two 8’ x 2’ strips.
Spread adhesive and lay down mat strips along both sides of top plywood.
Sources
My husband and I built my home platform this way, based on a design by Jim Schmitz, as explained in an article on Ironmind by Randy Strossen. We varied only on the adhesive and the mat. I’m contributing my version for some added detail, the technical writing format, and the suggestion of the horse stall mats - Thanks to Tom Hirtz for that idea.
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